


Deadly Confession

by kinneyb



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-24
Updated: 2015-05-24
Packaged: 2018-03-31 22:51:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3996085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinneyb/pseuds/kinneyb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Morgan never thought he'd tell Reid how he felt - he was content with keeping it a secret - but sometimes when you think you're on the brink of death you say some crazy things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Deadly Confession

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a prompt I got: If you are looking for prompts how about a UNSUB gets the drop on Morgan and Reid has to talk the UNSUB down from wanting to kill Morgan. Or maybe similar to Elephant's Memory when Reid talks down Owen. Morgan is so scared for Reid and ends up accidentally confessing his love for Reid while he's yelling Reid for placing himself in danger.

Reid stayed a foot or two behind as Morgan kicked the door in, watching as the door fell to the ground with a loud clatter. After a few days they'd finally found the residence of Mars Smith, who had seemingly vanished from thin air about a month ago and was a potential suspect for a string of murders in Tampa, Florida.

"Clear," Morgan called as he searched the first room - a small kitchenette, snapping Reid out of his thoughts.

He quickly entered the house, his gun held up along with a flashlight illuminating anything within a few feet of him.

The hallway was empty for the most part. The only piece of furniture was a tiny table with a few picture frames on it. Reid stopped for a second, distracted by the photos. They were all of the Smith family before Janette - Mar's wife - had filed for a divorce. If you didn't know better, you'd think it was just a normal happy family.

But Reid did know better.

Clenching his teeth, he pushed past the table and stopped in front of a closed door. He kept one hand on his gun, finger grazing the trigger, and reached out with his other, clasping the doorknob gently. Just as he began to turn the handle he heard something like a grunt come from Morgan and he stopped abruptly.

Then he heard a man's voice. "Why are you here - shit, I didn't want the FBI to get involved!"

He slowly turned. "Morgan?" he called.

"Who is that?" the man - who Reid knew was probably Mars - questioned angrily.

Morgan opened his mouth but before he could answer Reid appeared in the doorway and answered for him. 

"My name is Spencer Reid," he began in a soft voice, "I'm his partner."

Just as he'd originally feared Morgan had gotten himself in quite the situation. Morgan had his gun aimed at Mars and Mars had his own gun aimed at Morgan. But Mars had the advantage; his gun was leveled evenly with Morgan's face while Morgan (if he was lucky) would get a bullet in Mars's arm. 

"Put your gun away," Mars barked, staring at Reid's gun, "or I will shoot him!" He squeezed the gun in his hand for emphasize and Morgan tightly closed his eyes. From what they'd learned about Mars, he wasn't stable. The smallest thing could set him off and that only made the situation much more dangerous.

Reid nodded, letting his gun drop and land on the carpeted floor with a thud.

Now Morgan's eyes were open again, wide and flashing with anger. "Reid, you idiot - "

"Shut up!" Mars yelled, his voice cracking with emotion. "I didn't want any of this! It's your fault for coming here!"

Reid knew he had to let Mars believe he understood him. His lips formed a tight smile. "You're right," he assured him. "It _is_ our fault. But I know you didn't mean to hurt any of those women and I can help you prove you're not crazy. You did what you did because you had to."

He watched Mars closely as his breathing became more erratic - not a good sign. He was losing himself.

Mars turned and looked at Morgan. "Give me your gun," he commanded, reaching out with his other hand.

Morgan made an animal-like growling noise. Right now he was the only one in immediate danger but if Mars got his hand on another weapon Reid would be, too. He wasn't about to let that happen without a fight. "Fuck yo - "

"Morgan," Reid said sternly, interrupting him. "Just give him the gun, okay?"

He snapped his head around, staring at Reid with disbelief. Reid merely mouthed "do it".

Reluctantly, Morgan gave the man his gun and just as he'd expected it was immediately aimed at Reid.

 He felt physically ill. Morgan truly didn't care if he was shot, killed, injured, but the thought of Reid putting himself in danger - because of him - made him feel he could puke any second. 

Mars waved one of the guns around as he spoke. "I just - I don't - you shouldn't have - " Suddenly he centered the gun back on Reid, his nail making a horrible noise as it clawed against the trigger repeatedly. "Why doesn't anyone listen?! Everything could've been avoided but nobody - _nobody_ listens to me!"

Seeing his finger on the trigger pushed Morgan over the edge. His lips parted with a loud smack. "Hey, idiot, focus on me, would you? I'm the one who figured out where you lived!" Mars quickly settled his gaze on Morgan, his eyes wide with anger. Reid was safe. For now. "Yeah, that's right. If you wanna kill anyone, kill me!"

Morgan watched, goosebumps appearing on his skin, as Mars seemingly considered the idea, fingering the trigger of the gun pointed at him. As long as Reid didn't get hurt, everything would be okay. He just had to keep him safe until backup arrived.

Just when Morgan thought it was the end, Reid just had to pipe up. "He's lying, Mars, I was the one who figured out where you would be based on where you dumped the bodies."

Morgan's jaw clenched, his teeth grinding inside his mouth. "Reid, you fucking idiot - "

"I'm _not_ going to let him shoot you," Reid replied before glancing at Mars with another fake plastic smile. "Anyway you don't want to shoot us, do you, Mars? You didn't want any of this, remember? You said it yourself. If you just let us go, we can get you the help you need."

Morgan huffed. Why couldn't Reid just stay out of it? Didn't he get it? "Hey, jackass, there's nobody who'd want to help a murderer like you," he said, flashing a condescending little smirk as Mars turned and faced him. Morgan saw Reid open his mouth but before he could say a word he interrupted him. "Just stay out of it, Reid," he said as Mars adjusted the gun so it was once again level with his face - with that the bullet would likely go through his forehead. "I'd rather go down protecting you than let you get hurt right in front of me."

Helplessly Reid watched as Mars began applying pressure on the trigger. " _Why_?"

Morgan closed his eyes, preparing for the bullet - for death. "Because I love you."

The familiar sound of a gun going off filled Reid's ear and he immediately covered his eyes while simultaneously stifling a sob and falling to the floor. He couldn't believe any of it - this entire thing felt like a dream. Morgan had confessed to _loving_ him just before dying. Soon he felt a pair of strong arms wrap around him.

He began fighting against the arms, assuming it had to be Mars (but why would he be touching him?).

"Come on, pretty boy, it's gonna be okay," Morgan's voice sounded different from usual - it was strained and tired - but there was no denying it was indeed his voice. 

Reid slowly opened his eyes and glanced up, his heart jumping with relief when he saw Morgan staring back at him, his arms firmly wrapped around his waist. He gently helped him stand. Behind him he could see Mars body on the floor, limp and covered in blood. "How - " he grasped at Morgan's shirt. "How are you - you're alive."

"Backup got here just in time, huh?" Morgan breathed, nodding in the direction of Hotch who was standing in the doorway. Reid would have to give Hotch a proper thanks later. He buried his face in Morgan's shoulder, no longer able to hold back the sobs. "It's okay, I'm fine," Morgan mumbled, rubbing his back. "We're both fine."

It took a few minutes but finally Reid had calmed down enough to pull away from Morgan a bit, his hands resting on his shoulders. The room had since been vacated on Hotch's order - he knew the two needed a moment - and it was just the two of them. 

"Morgan," he started, voice small and nervous. "I love you too."

With a relieved sigh, Morgan pressed his face into Reid's shaggy locks. "I know."


End file.
